Content Marketing

Lisa HarrisUniversity of Southampton

@lisaharris27th March 2013

Lisa Harris• Lisa is Co-Chair of the Digital Economy USRG at the

University of Southampton, and an Associate Director of the Centre for Innovation in Technologies and Education (CITE). She runs the MSc programme in Digital Marketing and is also an accredited tutor for the University of Liverpool online MBA programme.

• www.about.me/lisaharris• www.digitaleconomy.soton.ac.uk• http://lisaharrismarketing.com• www.twitter.com/lisaharris• www.slideshare.net/lisaharris

The big picture

Introduction

• How big data is changing lives (5 mins)• Technology Will Kill…(2 mins)• Socialnomics by Erik Qualman (4mins)• Parody of the Socialnomics videos (3mins)

• Comments : http://todaysmeet.com/Perth

Technological change examples

• Gutenberg's printing press• Radio and early TV outside broadcasting:

Phar Lap• The secret history of social networking (Rory

Cellan Jones, 30 mins, audio)

Fear of new technology...

Exercise 1: What technologies are being discussed here?

• “The modern world overwhelms people with data and this is confusing and harmful to the mind” (Conrad Gessner, 1565)

• “It will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories.“ (Socrates, 469-399BC)

• “It socially isolates readers and detracts from the spiritually uplifting group practice of getting news from the pulpit” (Malesherbes, 1787)

• “It might hurt radio, conversation, reading, and the patterns of family living and result in the further vulgarisation of American culture“ (Ellen Wartella, 1962)

• “It’s making us stupid” (Nicholas Carr, 2008)

Digital Trends 2013 by Smart Insights• Complete the poll and view the results– Mobile (think smartphones and tablets)– Content (engagement through SMM drives SEO)

Global spread of social media

Global market of Facebook

Seth Godin• Flip the funnel• Megaphone• Social Media• Word of Mouth

15http://www.flickr.com/photos/theparadigmshifter/470341923/

www.briansolis.com

The 1:9:90 rule (Nielsen, 2006)

• 1% are content CREATORS (aka make a lot of noise)

• 9% will COMMENT (aka make some noise) • 90% will CONSUME (aka say nothing, but

presumably still obtain value) • Is this still valid? Think about the

participation inequality in your various online activities

Content Marketing

Marie Page webinar on Content Marketing

Why Content Marketing?

• People sharing/liking your content has an SEO benefit• Good content is a top reason why people follow brands on

social media (Get Satisfaction)• Build social capital by giving away good stuff –

endorsements and sales will follow• Content can educate, inform, entertain or inspire…resulting

in brand advocates• Facebook’s “Edgerank” score introduced Autumn 2012 - it

increases with engagement, decreases with negativity. This influences how many people get to view a brand’s post in their newsfeed

The role of blogging

• Seth Godin and Tom Peters on blogging • Blogging provides:– Visibility– Recognition– Community and public engagement– Social capital

Pulling it all together• Use the blog framework as a central point pulling in your other

social media content:– Tweets– LinkedIn– Flickr– Vimeo/YouTube– Slideshare– Pinterest etc

• You can also embed other social media within individual blog posts – video content is increasingly important

• Provide sharing buttons so that your readers can share your content on their own networks

• These activities provide a regular supply of googlejuice to the blog• See for example http://digitaleconomy.soton.ac.uk

Blogging and search engine optimisation

Social media shares of a blogpost are the biggest influence on its search visibility:

1. Facebook shares2. Facebook comments3. Facebook likes4. Tweets

http://www.socialmediastrategist.co.uk/blog/1-news/175-social-media-seo

Practical tips

• Be transparent and authentic• Build social capital by providing a regular supply of

interesting content• Use a range of media in each post• Keep posts short – our attentions spans are getting

ever smal…• Link and share. Link and share. Did I say link and

share?• Respond to all queries and comments • Don’t expect instant results…persistence will pay off

Exercise 2

• Check out http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/australia

• Check out http://www.socialbakers.com/twitter/country/australia/

• why do you think the top 5 brands in Australia have been so successful?

• Use this document to record your comments

Case Study: AVG Free

• Provides useful information about online security

• Shows the team behind the community• “Superfans” get VIP treatment – invitations to

offline events, profiles showcased• Awards for fans who answer the queries of

others• Activists can be called upon to publically

support the company in times of crisis

United Breaks Guitars Case Study

• The original video• What happened next, including interview with

Dave Carroll • http://www.davecarrollmusic.com/

What’s next? - Google Glass

• Here is a taster (with detailed analysis and video demo )

• And another (sceptical) argument by Andrew Keen (@ajkeen)

• You may wish to follow #ifihadglass on twitter• Is this a game changer?• Google aim to put Glass on the market by the

end of 2013

Summary

• Content marketing through social media may be ‘free’ but the staff resource cost is high

• Can companies cope with the volume of interaction required within a successful community?

• 24/7 monitoring and interaction may be required • How can success be evaluated in more meaningful

ways than the number of ‘likes’?• Challenges of dealing with negativity in a proactive

way

Further Reading/Resources

• @Marie_Page webinar on Content Marketing (44mins) via @smartinsights

• Nielson Social Media Report 2012• Wells Fargo Social Media Case Study• Top 10 trends presentations 2013 (We Are

Social)• BBC Internet Growth Report• 5 ways social media will change the way you w

ork in 2013